Men’s Soccer Stuns No. 23 Endicott in CCC Semis, 2-0

BEVERLY, Mass. – Suffolk men's soccer had it all Wednesday night, stealthy offense, with two goals in a 10-minute span, spread out over each half, unmatched defense and perfect goaltending from Xander Balog to upset the nationally ranked, Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) tournament top-seed, No. 23 Endicott, 2-0, at North Field. The victory sends the Rams to the CCC Championship for the first time in program history. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 2 | No. 23 Endicott 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (9-5-5) | No. 23 Endicott (12-4-4) 

HOW IT HAPPANED
Matthew Belluardo broke open the scoring in the 39th minute. The freshman's goal came off a second-ball chance inside the box.  

Less than three minutes out of the locker room, Brady Sorensen doubled the blue-and-gold's advantage. The junior buried a perfect through ball from the top right corner of the box via a feed by Miguel Varela.  

From there, it was all lockdown for Suffolk. The defense did it job. The back line allowed the rock to slip past it towards Balog just once more in the remainder of the contest. The sophomore keeper made the glove save to preserve the shutout victory. 

NETMINDER NOTES

• Balog registered two stops in the victory. 
• Kyle Rosa made one save in the setback. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Belluardo and Sorensen scored one goal apiece. 
• Varela handed out one assist. 
• Suffolk outshot the Gulls, 9-8. 
• The Rams had a 3-2 shots on target edge. 
• Endicott took both corners in the contest. 

NOTEWORTHY

• The Rams played in the CCC semifinals for the first time in program history. 
• Suffolk advances to the CCC Championship for the first time in program history. 
• The Rams will move on from the conference semifinals for the second time in program history, first time since 2010 when the blue-and-gold went on to capture the GNAC crown. 
• Suffolk improved to 2-3-0 in conference semifinals. 
• Both of the Rams semifinal victories have come as the away team. 
• The last and only time Suffolk advanced from a league semifinal is as the fourth seed. 
• The blue-and-gold improved to 6-3-1 as the fourth seed in the conference tournament. 
• The Rams moved to 1-1-1 in the postseason in the Bill Maddock era. 
• Suffolk captured its first CCC tournament victory in program history. 
• The Rams moved to 1-1-1 all-time in the CCC postseason. 
• The blue-and-gold grabbed its first road victory in the CCC postseason. 
• The Rams found the back of the net when competing on the road in the CCC postseason for the first time. 
• Suffolk notched its first shutout in the CCC postseason. 
• The shutout marks Suffolk's first league playoff cleansheet since blanking Albertus Magnus in the 2016 GNAC Quarterfinals, Oct. 29, 2016. 
• Suffolk has defeated Endicott in back-to-back battles. 
• The Rams are now 2-3-0 versus the Gulls all-time. 
• Both of the blue-and-gold's triumphs over Endicott have come via shutout. 
• Suffolk defeated a nationally ranked foe for the first known time in program history. 
• Sorensen has recorded a point in both of Suffolk's postseason games. He has two goals and two assists in the CCC playoffs thus far. 
• Sorensen tallied his sixth goal of the year. 
• Belluardo found the back of the net for the fifth time this season. 
• Varela dished out his fifth assist of the season. 

POST-GAME PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk will compete in the CCC Championship Saturday, Nov. 5 at second seed Roger Williams at 1 p.m.